The Power of One
Theme for this Week: Bad Bet
Kelsey Begaye
Saturday, March 16, 2002
 1 of 1
The Power of One
Theme for this Week: Bad Bet
Saturday March 16
The fastest-growing segment of the American gambling industry is Indian casinos. Some 150 tribes operate facilities to harvest the "new buffalo," while 400 tribes have resisted the lure. But the battle continues. Consider the Navajo nation, with more than 250,000 members:Eight years ago, a strong contingent of gaming supporters in the Navajo Legislative Council began an all-out push to build five casinos on tribal land. It was rejected in a public referendum in 1994 by 4,623 votes.
In 1996, the council circumvented the referendum and voted its own resolution to authorize gaming. But then Navajo president Albert Hale honored the public's vote and vetoed it. The council's Economic Development Committee tried another referendum in 1997. It was also defeated, by only 2,782 votes.
When Kelsey Begaye, a committed Christian, was elected president in 1998, he declared, "This administration firmly believes in strengthening family values; [it] does not support gaming on the reservation."
Christians are a small minority on the reservation. One councilman accused Begaye of allowing his Chris-tian beliefs to influence his stance. But when the Council voted again to "decriminalize" casino gambling, Begaye vetoed the resolution, urging his people to adhere to morals "given to us through our Navajo cultural teachings."
In its January 2000 session, the Council passed a resolution allowing gambling to be a Navajo economic initiative. Begay vetoed again.
Kelsey Begaye, Navajo President, whose profile was written by Mary Lou Totten
Adapted from: Mission Frontiers (9/00) by permission.
Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
March/April 2002,Vol. 5,No. 2
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Father, may I rely only on Your loving guidance and provision—never on chance or fate.
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